How did you end up helping other Say Yes scholars at Buffalo State University?

My experience seeking help from Say Yes Buffalo taught me how to navigate the Buffalo State school system and next thing you know I’m a Say Yes ambassador. I’m in the Say Yes [office on campus] on the regular and they’re helping me navigate and then now in return I’m helping students navigate their journey at Buff State. And do we end up building a Say Yes bridge program for high school students who are coming to Buffalo State for college. Myself and Stan Simmons who’s at Buff State, we build that program out from the ground up and help students navigate their journey through Buff State so that some of the mistakes I made we were able to correct for future students, and that’s why it was a big resource for me.

How did the Say Yes scholarship open doors for you?

Because of the scholarship, my mom actually convinced me to live on campus. She said you should really take advantage of this opportunity, see what it’s like if you don’t like it you know after the first year you can just come back home and commute. I ended up loving it. I lived on campus all four years of my undergraduate program and got involved in student government the new student orientation program, which set the stage for leadership opportunities to come.  

I actually had received a couple awards at D’Youville University, specifically the Saint Catherine of Alexandria award which is given to undergraduate students. Knowing that I left an impression there amongst like my peers and faculty, it made me feel good—to be able to say that I went there and I did what I set out to do. But the reason that I was able to participate in the extracurriculars and other events and activities that helped me make those connections and network was because I didn’t have that financial burden that Say Yes had lifted. I was able to really immerse myself in the college experience. I was able to live on campus as well, which wouldn’t have been an option if I didn’t have Say Yes. It really elevated my college experience overall.  

How has your path been informed by mission?

As I moved through the [nursing] program [at D’Youville], I saw that there was a lack of educators that looked like me. I think I maybe had one or two black educators during my undergraduate program and representation is important! My last semester of my undergraduate program, one of my advisors had heard about opportunity for senior nursing students to teach tutoring sessions to other nursing students at Trocaire College. I thought, “Wow, that would a really interesting opportunity.”

I tried it and I loved it… Fast forward to the end of my last semester when I wrapped up teaching at Trocaire, one of the graduate faculty members Dr. Dunford approached me and she had said that there was a grant [to address the] shortage of nursing faculty [of color]… I knew I had to take advantage, similar to the Say Yes opportunity. I can’t let this sit on the table, I have to take advantage of it.

What do you try to impart to your students?

As nurses we don’t get to pick and choose our patient population. No matter what area you work in, you’re going to encounter people you don’t look like you, whether it be you know ethnically, culturally; we all have we come from different backgrounds. This is an opportunity as a teacher because working with individuals who were maybe a little bit more sheltered than the students sitting next to them, a lot of times I found that biases aren’t always intentional and they may not realize that they harbor them. But you’re going into healthcare. Our priority is to not make someone’s worse day even more traumatic than it already is. We want to come with empathy. It’s a very challenging career but it’s also very rewarding but we want to make sure that we’re being trauma-informed and just being respectful of and understanding the gravity of what we’re stepping into.

How did the Say Yes scholarship open doors for you?

I wouldn’t have been able to complete my [Bachelor’s] degree [at SUNY Fredonia] if I didn’t get the scholarship because even when I after the scholarship that got my total amount down to $600. $600 I could manage. When we get into those thousands is when we start talking a little crazy for a 17 year old little girl who was raised on the East Side by a single mom. It wasn’t feasible, it didn’t seem feasible but we knew this diligent girl had to do something. And whatever it is we gotta figure out where we gonna get this money from and then Say Yes Buffalo came along.

You currently work as the Community Schools Navigator at East Community High School for which you were recently recognized as Support Staff of the Year by the Excellence in Education awards. How are you able to be effective?

I love my students over at East High School. I love what I do. I hear the need, I hear the pain. I hear the trauma. I hear so much more than what y’all just see the kids walking in late. I hear a hungry child. I hear a child who is the fifth kid in [an overwhelmed] family. I see much more than just what meets the eye. So I really really love being able to sit down with them having mentoring sessions.

My mentoring sessions are real. I’m like what’s up, what’s going on, why are we acting like this today? And those kids pour into me. They pour into me probably more than what I pour into them. They really make me sit down and stay humble and remember what my goal was in the first place: Can I be like the person I needed when I was 14, 15, 16, 17 years old. That’s why I’m exactly where I need to be.

There’s often a disconnect in education. We forget that we are all just human and we forget that we were 14, 15, 16 years old and that we rolled our eyes and we didn’t like wearing coats. So I try to keep my head on straight remembering who I was and how I was and when I had a funky attitude, haha!

Tell us about your thoughts about mentorlng?

I think mentoring is super important because there ain’t no book on this thing called life. Even for the people who are 65 years old, I would be looking up to a 70 year old like what’s next? So I think mentoring is exactly that. I’ve been through this so you don’t have to. I’ve done this so I can show you what’s what. I’ve been to college, come talk to me, I know what college is like. I know what your first day gonna be like. Why not listen to somebody who’s already done what you’re about to do so that you can have some prior knowledge before you get yourself into a new step. Life is scary. Starting new things are scary having somebody to really be like, “nah, that’s not a good idea,” or “yes, go that way, yes talk to this person, no don’t do that, don’t change your major too quick.” It’s important.